By a 4-3 margin on Tuesday, Saginaw school board trustees voted against extending Superintendent Nathaniel McClain’s contract, first for one year and then for three years. The majority, including Board President Rudy Patterson plus trustees Jason and Mattie Thompson along with Kim Hamilton, say there was no collusion, but that all had concerns about issues within the district that impacted their evaluation of McClain’s job performance.

McClain said he still wants to stay on through the end of his current contract. He and trustee Tamara McRae said the board agreed in late 2016 to an extension through June 30th, 2019. Patterson called that action “not in order,” and insists McClain’s contract expires at the end of June this year.

The board debated and eventually agreed to add more criteria as part of McClain’s evaluation, including job-related data and leadership efforts.